Sounds like a bold statement, right? I mean, how can something as simple as a WordPress theme allow your online business endeavors to succeed? It’s a big issue to consider when you want to make money online. A few years ago when I was first dipping my toes into the world of making money from blogging, I thought it was as simple as this:

Start a free blog

Write a few short blog posts

Put Google Ads and Affiliate links throughout the site

Sit back and watch the money roll on in

A few failed blogs later and I can confidently tell you that this is not the case. While there are options online that let you create a blog for free (I’ve tried quite a few…), it wasn’t until I invested in my blogs that I started to see results from my efforts online. Currently, I make money online through a few main ways:

I sell my professional services

I coach new writers and bloggers

I offer consultations for those who need help with Social Media

I make income from affiliate marketing

The first year I started seeing income was 2014 where I grossed just over $11,000. In 2015, I worked fewer hours every week, but I grossed more than $25k. And 2016 is shaping up to look like I’ll be on track for over $55k from working part-time. There is a lot of hard work on my end that I’ve put into getting my business to this point, but I finally started seeing consistent income when I did one thing: I committed to investing in my business. That included getting fast, reliable hosting and buying a Premium WordPress theme. If I skipped this part, if I used a free blogging platform and did everything possible not to spend a dime on my blog, I know I wouldn’t be making money. Why do I tell you all of this? Because if you’re someone who wants to start making money online then you need to start investing some money in your business if you want to see any income. That’s what worked for me and many others that I know of.

Can’t I Just Use a Free Theme?

I get it. When you’re just starting out online, you probably want to save some money until you have a handle on things. It’s smart to be frugal with the money you do have.

But if you’re serious about making money online, then free just ain’t gonna cut it. Everything in life proves this to be true. For instance, if you want to earn money with stocks then you need to invest money in starting out with before you’ll make anything back. Thus the saying, “it takes money to make money.” (I think that’s a saying. If not, it should be!) The same is true with a blog or online business. You need to put some money into it if you want to get money out of it. While a free WordPress theme can save you some money, it’s not the best platform for building your online empire. Here are a few reasons why that’s the case.

1. Free WordPress Themes Lack Support

This is a big one. If you ever run into an issue where you need help — like a feature stops working or something else starts to glitch — and you’re using a free theme, you’re usually on your own when it comes time to fixing the problem. You never know when an issue like this can come up. But with premium themes, this problem is a little less stressful situation. Since you’re paying for a theme, you’re funding a business so that they can invest that in theme support. And while some theme providers that offer free themes may invest some support in them, it tends to be very limited.

The Takeaway:

When you’re bootstrapping your business, then starting with a free theme might be the best option. However, sticking with a free theme forever could put you in a pickle down the line. If you’re currently using a free theme for your business, then start doing a bit of research to find a premium theme by a theme shop with a good reputation. If you don’t know where to look, then start here at MyThemeShop. They have quite a few blogging and business themes that run fast and have excellent support. And I can say that honestly because I’m a customer too (*wink*).

2. When You Settle For Free, You’re Not Fully Committed To Your Blog’s Success

I say this from personal experience. While I wanted to make money working online, I found that trying to scrimp on every single angle was to my downfall. I thought, “Well, if I do this without spending anything and it fails, all I’ve lost is a bit of time.” That way of thinking really hurt my online endeavors. I wasn’t committed to the idea of success. I was expecting my efforts to not really come to fruition — and they didn’t.

It wasn’t until I bought hosting and a premium WordPress theme that my business started to really take off. I was fully determined to make a go at this online thing, so I hunkered down, changed my mentality and went for it. It was seriously the best thing I ever could have done. In reality, premium themes are not expensive. The average cost for a WordPress theme is about $30. I spend more money in my Starbucks run than that. (Don’t judge, I have a growing family.) When you look at all you get from a free theme versus what a small amount of money can get you for a premium theme, the premiums theme always comes out the winner. Buying a premium theme is not a risk for business; it’s an investment.

The Takeaway:

Fear of failure or expecting your business endeavors to fail can do a lot of harm. While it can be unnerving to put money into something like a website that could flop, you should remember that you’ll get out of it what you put in. But a WordPress theme is not a significant investment. One way you can invest in your site without spending money you don’t have is to use the money you make from your site and put it back into your business. So if you find a theme that’s $45, then wait until your site has brought you that income before you purchase a theme.

3. Successful Bloggers and Websites Don’t Use Free WordPress Themes

While it’s true that a few bloggers can skate by using a free theme, the large majority do not. Pat Flynn with Smart Passive Income had a theme custom designed for his site. John Lee Dumas with Entrepreneur on Fire has a custom theme. Same goes for Matthew Woodward. (You can purchase his theme right here.)

Another great example is Peg Fitzpatrick — an influencer in social media — who uses a very popular premium WordPress theme for her blog. I could seriously make this list a mile long, but I think you get my point: Professional bloggers that make thousands and even millions a year use premium or custom themes for their site. A solid theme built on WordPress has allowed these online entrepreneurs to launch their businesses on a reliable platform that makes them money. Finding and using a good WordPress theme may not seem like a big deal, but it really is. A premium theme gets constant updates for security and to keep up with WordPress core updates. They stand out and help people build a recognizable brand. They offer features and functions that most free themes don’t.

The Takeaway:

When building a business or a personal brand, your website is going to be part of your overall strategy to build authority and income. Using a premium theme and designing it to match your brand or getting one custom made can help you stand out online and impress upon others that you’re not just another come-and-go expert in the noisy online world. You can put off buying a premium theme for a while, but don’t wait too long.

How To Find The Premium WordPress Theme You’ll Love

In a word:

Research.

But you also need to know what you want out of your website and what you want your brand to represent.

Do you need an online store?

What about responsiveness so your site looks good on smaller screens.

How fast is the theme you’re considering purchasing?

Do you need something that’s easy to customize?

These are all important questions to think about, and it can take some time to come up with a list and things you need from your theme and website. But since you’re already here, why not check out MyThemeShop’s themes? They’re one of my favorite, go-to theme providers, and I’m not just saying that either. But don’t take my word for it. Just look at what others have to say about it: Here is what the guy from ShoeMoney has to say about it.

Jyoti is another successful blogger who uses MyThemeShop, and this is what she has to say:

“So far I have only used one theme from MyThemeShop and it is just perfect when you have a lot of content to show. It is SEO friendly, AdSense enabled, and has 6 layouts to experiment with – which is why I haven’t opted for another theme in a while. :)” ~ Source

And if you’re not sure if you’re going to like the theme after you’ve bought it, they have a 15-day money back guarantee so if you decide you don’t like the theme you chose, you can get your money back if it’s within that timeline.

Wrapping It Up

While it doesn’t trump hard work, diligence, and an action plan, using a premium WordPress theme and investing a bit of money in your online presence is a key ingredient to building your business. If you’re ready to get serious about making money online, then set aside a bit of money to use for your website.

Have you found yourself holding back from buying a theme? If so, why? I’d love to know in your comments below.

I purchased a couple of MyThemeShop themes for my other blogs and I am more than satisfied not only with the themes\’ looks and speed but with the kind of support MTS has provided. I mean, you can create a topic at the forum and expect an answer within an hour or so. You can\’t get that from other theme providers. Whatever customization you need, MTS will try to provide you a solution to the best of their knowledge.

Hi Ariel, you made a very good point! In my case I started a blog from blogspot and it\’s FREE. I was able to earn and got on Google\’s first as well. However, it took me 6 months to get the pay-out. Then, I started to invest, I bought my own domain name but still I am not ready to invest on hosting and theme. The result, I was able to get a monthly pay-out $100 a month with that $9.99/year investment. So after three months, I decided to migrate my blog to WordPress, bought a premium theme from mythemeshop and a hosting. What\’s the result? My income increased by 200%, I earn $300 or more by just investing extra $15/month on hosting and a one time theme payment of $19 at that time.

In conclusion, free is good but investing is much more rewarding. If we are serious on making money online we really have to invest.

Hi, Ariel
Nice post indeed, Your depth article \”Why Premium WordPress Themes are essential \” will help newbie who still using free themes. At the very beginning of my blogging, i used a lot of free WordPress themes but not making revenue and couldn\’t ranked well. After using MyThemeshop TruePixel i can say Mythemeshop is the leader in the industry. I am the satisfied customer of Mythemeshop premium themes. And another thing is Mythemeshop affiliate program give me handsome income on every month.

Hey Ariel,
Yes! That is one of the secrets of a success blog! Actually I used mythemeshop free theme but I was feeling premium one, that\’s why now I am using a couple of premium MTS themes. Thanks to the MTS family.

Great post! I have had an experience very similar to Jeramy. This spring, I persuaded one of my good friends to change from a free theme to JustFit . His numbers have only gone one way since then – and that is up… His bounce rate dropped and his Google ranking improved significantly. He is very pleased with the result:-)

I never thought having a premium WP theme would go that far in traffic growth. But because of the professional look that a premium WP theme provides to my website, I believe it has partly contributed to gaining more trust with my audience. I used to go for free themes but after working with Premium ones for sometime, I don\’t think I\’ll ever look back!

Hi Ariel,
Of course premium themes are worth using they are actually the secret of success, I purchased a SociallyViral Theme of MyThemeShop and using it on few of my blogs and trust me the theme is incredible.

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Terms and Conditions

1. Introduction

The following terms and conditions govern all use of the MyThemeShop.com website (“Service”) and it’s sub-domains. The Service is owned and operated by MyThemeShop LLC. (“MyThemeShop”, “MTS”, “Us, “We”, or “Our”). By using the Service, you (“You”, “Yourself” or “Your”) agree to these terms of use in full. If You disagree with these terms of use, or any part of these terms of use, You must not use the Service.

You must be at least 16 years of age to use the Service. By using the Service and by agreeing to these terms of use, You warrant and represent that You are at least 16 years of age.

The Service uses cookies. By using the Service and agreeing to these terms of use, You consent to Our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of Our privacy policy.​

2. Acceptable use

You must not use the Service in any way that causes, or may cause, damage to the Service or impairment of the availability or accessibility of the Service; or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity.

You must not use the Service to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software.

You must not conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including, without limitation, scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to the Service without Our express written consent.

3. Limitation of Liability

Under no circumstances shall MyThemeShop be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, loss of data or profit, arising out of the use, or the inability to use, the materials on this site, even if MyThemeShop or an authorized representative has been advised of the possibility of such damages. If your use of materials from this site results in the need for servicing, repair or correction of equipment or data, you assume any costs thereof.

4. Restricted Access

Access to certain areas of the Service is restricted. We reserve the right to restrict access to other areas of the Service, or indeed the whole Service, at Our discretion.

If You create an account and subsequently a password to enable You to access restricted areas of the Service or other services, You must ensure that the password is kept confidential. You must notify Us immediately if You become aware of any unauthorized use of Your account or password.

You are responsible for any activity on the Service arising out of any failure to keep Your password confidential and may be held liable for any losses arising out of such a failure.

You must not use any other person’s account and password to access the Service, unless You have that person’s express permission to do so in written.

We may disable Your account at any time in Our sole discretion with or without notice or explanation.

5. License Types and Product Usage

Our products, including, but not limited to, themes and plugins, are created to be used by end users, including, but not limited to, designers, bloggers and developers for final work (personal and client websites). You can see what every license comes with on the Pricing Page. Our products only work on the self-hosted version of WordPress. You can’t use one of our themes or plugins on a WordPress.com blog. For more information on WordPress.com Vs WordPress.org, you can read here [http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/].

Our products are released under GNU general public license and that means you can use them on unlimited domains without any limitation but the support is provided only to the buyer.

6. Extended Membership

If you wish to use our products on your clients’ websites or for your web design/web development business – you are advised to purchase our Extended Membership license. Any other license doesn’t provide support of our themes/plugins on websites other than your own under any circumstances.

The Extended Membership is a subscription based product like all our products that will give you access to all our themes & plugins including PSD files of premium themes and it will be automatically renewed every year on the date you signed up. If you cancel your subscription, you will still have access to the themes and plugins for the remaining period of your 12 months subscription. When this period expires you will not be able to download any WordPress themes or plugins. However the already downloaded themes and plugins may be used without any restriction.

If you wish to stop your subscription, a cancelation button is available in your account under the “Payment History” tab.

7. Browser Compatibility

We consider it our duty to offer a great experience across most major browsers, which is why our products support the latest modern web browsers including (but not limited to) Firefox, Safari, Chrome & Internet Explorer 9+. However, the performance may vary between different browsers, versions, and operating systems.

8. Photoshop Files License

The original Photoshop design files for our products are licensed and copyrighted by MyThemeShop instead of GPL so you are not permitted to redistribute these files under any circumstances.​

9. Updates

Customers who make individual, multiple or Extended Membership product purchases will get access to product updates that are available to them till the time their subscription remains active.

Even though there is no guarantee that the older templates will be compatible with future versions of WordPress, all templates are designed to work with the latest available version of WordPress and we do our best to release product updates on the same day of a major release of WordPress, if not sooner.​

10. Product Compatibility

The Products are developed to be compatible with WordPress 4.5 or higher because we always strive to stay up-to-date with the latest version of WordPress. You might experience certain performance or functionality glitches with the Products if you use any version prior to that.

11. Demo Content

Images and content shown on our demo pages may or may not be included in the final files provided to you. We usually provide images shown on our demo as they are royalty free images but in some cases it may not be included. No premium plugin is included with any of our premium theme and likewise.​

12. Delivery

Your MyThemeShop individual/package product(s) information will be emailed to the email address (that you will provide) once we receive your payment or after completing the registration. Even though this usually takes a few minutes, it may also take up to 24 hours. You can contact us through our contact page if you do not receive your email after waiting for this time period. You will have access to purchased product/bundle and the support forum after logging in with the given credentials.​

13. Ownership

All the products are the property of MyThemeShop so you may not claim ownership (intellectual or exclusive) over any of our products, modified or unmodified. Our products come ‘as is’, without any kind of warranty, either expressed or implied. Under no circumstances can our juridical person be accountable for any damages including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages or other losses originating from the employment of or incapacity to use our products.​

14. Site Content

All the content published on the MyThemeShop.com domain including images, site content published on the showcase and on the blog, belongs to MyThemeShop and is under copyright. Any reproduction of the site content has to be authorized and distinctly referenced back to the source. Written consent of MyThemeShop is required before the MyThemeShop website is used or exploited for any commercial and non-private purpose. Though the content published on demo sites is non-exclusive and is not copyrighted.​

15. Payments and Renewals

All our products are available with one year of premium support and updates, and is mentioned on the landing pages as well.

However, anything you download can be used for lifetime on unlimited domains you own.

The product’s price on the landing page is for the first year. You can cancel at anytime though and still enjoy the benefits till your subscription lasts.

Some features on the Service require payment of fees. If you elect to sign up for these features, you agree to pay Us the applicable fees and any taxes as described on the Service. All payments due are in the U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. Upon payment, You will have access to the chosen features immediately. If Your use of the Service is terminated for any reason, whether by You or by Us, You will lose and forfeit any time remaining on Your account with Us.

You authorize us to bill the payment source You provide to Us for all applicable fees. If Your payment source is declined at any time (including, but not limited to situations where we seek authorizations or charge attempts), we may make up to two attempts to reprocess Your payment source. We reserve the right to disable or cancel Your use of Service immediately.​

16. Support

MyThemeShop provides these templates and designs ‘as is’, with no guarantee that they will work exactly according to your wishes or with any or all 3rd party components and plugins. In addition, we do not offer support through any means for installation, customization or administration of WordPress itself.

With that said, we do offer support for all our products – free or paid – if you face any issues while installations or if something isn’t working as advertised.

We also offer support for bug fixes and minor customizations.​

17. Price Changes

MyThemeShop reserves the right to modify or suspend (temporarily or permanently) a subscription at any point of time and from time to time with or without any notice. Prices of all the products and subscription fees, including but not limited to monthly subscription plan fees can change upon 30 days notice from us. Such changes can be notified via posting it to the MyThemeShop website at any point of time or through our social media accounts or via email to relevant subscribers.​

18. Refund Policy

MyThemeShop offers refunds to customers within 15 days of purchase. If the item(s) is broken, not working properly, or truly missing features from what is being mentioned on the sales page we offer full refunds.

We strongly believe our products will work without issues and we are available to help sort any issues resulting from any number of reasons. However, we also expect you to understand what you are purchasing and what your rights are for requesting refunds.

MyThemeShop products are digital in nature and are subject to the Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights which essentially means that once the digital products are downloaded – they are excluded from the right of withdrawal and hence are not eligible for refunds under law.

With that said, if you believe that the issue truly lies with our product – we will still issue a refund if requested within 15 days of purchase if our item is broken. After 15 days, no refunds will be granted.

Note that there is a difference between a broken item, and simply receiving an error message or having trouble configuring the Product to your desired result.

Error messages are often related to improper setup, hosting, configuration, plugin conflicts, or missing files which, causes the item to not work.

Before you request a refund from MyThemeShop, you must do the following:​

Read the extensive documentation or check video tutorials that we provide with each Product or general tutorials.

Check the support forums for existing threads about the issue you’re receiving.

Open a new support ticket with our support staff if you are still experiencing problems.

Confirm that your server meets the specifications laid out in the requirements for the Product and WordPress in general [https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/].

​Note that opening a dispute or initiating a chargeback will not speed up your refund request, and we reserve the right to refer any case to the PayPal fraud department, which may result in your account being limited.

If you’re not sure whether a Product is the correct fit for you, please reach out to our sales team or create a forum account and ask before making a purchase. Our team will be happy to assist you.

If you’ve read the above, and taken the necessary steps, but your Product is still broken, malfunctioning or otherwise non-functional, please open a refund request.

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You understand and agree that all information, including, without limitation, text, images, audio material, video material, links, addresses, data, functionality and other materials (“Content”) that You or a third party allow, submit, post, obtain, email or transmit (or the like) to the Service (collectively, “Your Content”) is Your responsibility and not Our responsibility.

You grant to Us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate and distribute Your Content in any existing or future media. You also grant to Us the right to sublicense these rights and the right to bring an action for infringement of these rights. If You delete Content, we will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Service, but You acknowledge that caching or references to the Content may not be made immediately unavailable.

By making Content available, You represent and warrant that: The downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party;
If Your employer has rights to intellectual property You create, You have either (i) received permission from Your employer to post or make available the Content, including but not limited to any software, or (ii) secured from Your employer a waiver as to all rights in or to the Content;

You have fully complied with any third-party licenses relating to the Content, and have done all things necessary to successfully pass through to end users any required terms;
The Content does not contain or install any viruses, worms, malware, Trojan horses or other harmful or destructive Content;

The Content is not pornographic, does not contain threats or incite violence, and does not violate the privacy or publicity rights of any third party;

You have, in the case of Content that includes computer code, accurately categorised and/or described the type, nature, uses and effects of the materials, whether requested to do so by MyThemeShop, LLC or otherwise.

Your Content must not be illegal or unlawful, must not infringe any third party’s legal rights and must not be capable of giving rise to legal action whether against You or Us or a third party (in each case under any applicable law).

You must not submit any Content to the Service that is or has ever been the subject of any threatened or actual legal proceedings or other similar complaint.

We have the right (though not the obligation) to, in Our sole discretion (i) refuse or remove any Content that, in Our reasonable opinion, violates any policy or is in any way harmful or objectionable, or (ii) terminate or deny access to and use of the Service to any individual or entity for any reason, in Our sole discretion. We will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid.

You understand that all content uploaded to the Service will be continually monitored for illegal content, and should any be found, will be erased immediately. This is in relation to any items deemed illegal by content as well as illegal due to copyright infringement.

20. Affiliate Terms and Conditions

You agree to all our terms and conditions for affiliate program by creating an account with us and then by promoting us. If you wish to promote our products using our affiliate program, you also agree that your promotional methods will be inline with the methods laid out in our affiliate terms page.

21. Indemnity

You hereby indemnify Us and undertake to keep Us indemnified against any losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including, without limitation, legal expenses and any amounts paid by Us to a third party in settlement of a claim or dispute on the advice of Our legal advisers) incurred or suffered by Us arising out of any breach by You of any provision of these terms of use.

22. Breaches of these terms of use

Without prejudice to Our other rights under these terms of use, if You breach these terms of use in any way, we may take such action as we deem appropriate to deal with the breach, including suspending Your access to the Service, prohibiting You from accessing the Service, blocking computers using Your IP address from accessing the Service, contacting Your internet service provider to request that they block Your access to the Service and/or bringing court proceedings against You.

23. Warranty

We at MyThemeShop do not guarantee or provide warranty for the functionality of these templates/themes in any way. There is no guarantee for its compatibility with all 3rd party components, plugins and web browsers. You should however test the browser compatibility against the demonstration templates on the demo server. It is your responsibility to make sure browser compatibility since we cannot guarantee that MyThemeShop templates/themes will work with all browsers.

24. Membership cancellation

Cancelling your Membership Subscription means you lose access to the all premium product downloads, updates and Support. If you want to re-signup for our extended subscription you’ll need to pay the one-time sign-up fee again, unless we make an exception.

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The Services are created and controlled by MyThemeShop. in the State of Illinois, U.S.A. You agree that these Terms of Use will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America and the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. Use of the Services is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these Terms of Use. MyThemeShop, LLC makes no claims or assurances that the Services are appropriate or may be downloaded outside of the United States. You agree that all legal proceedings arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Use or the Services must be filed in a federal or state court located in Libertyville, Illinois, within one year of the time in which the events giving rise to such claim began, or your claim will be forever waived and barred. You expressly submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of said courts and consent to extraterritorial service of process.

(We reserve the right to change or alter the current set of Terms and Conditions without prior notice.)